Wedoany.com Report-Feb 14, U.S.-based Energy Vault has announced an agreement with the State Electricity Commission (SEC) of Victoria in Australia for the delivery and integration of a 100-MW/200-MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) at the SEC Renewable Energy Park-Horsham in Victoria. The groups on Feb. 13 said the hybrid solar and BESS project “represents a significant step forward in supporting Victoria’s transition to renewable, reliable, and affordable energy.”
The SEC Renewable Energy Park-Horsham is one of Australia’s first 100% publicly owned, utility-scale renewable energy projects. The project includes more than 212,000 photovoltaic solar panels generating 119 MW of solar power, and is capable of generating 242,000 MWh annually. Energy Vault’s integration of a grid-forming BESS will provide firm, dispatchable power to meet peak demand periods with a two-hour storage duration.
The facility represents a $370-million investment by SEC. Officials on Thursday said nearly 250 jobs will be created during construction. Preconstruction works at the site began this week, and full operational status is expected by late 2027.
The BESS system will be built with Energy Vault’s proprietary X-VAULT integration platform using the company’s proprietary UL9540 certified B-VAULT product, and VaultOS Energy Management System to control, manage and optimize the hybrid BESS operations. Energy Vault’s system architecture provides customer optionality with both battery and inverter suppliers, while unique AC-coupled and DC-coupled configurations provide the drop-in flexibility needed for any project.
“We are pleased to further expand our footprint of energy storage systems in the dynamic and rapidly growing Australian market and work with SEC on this innovative hybrid project architecture,” said Robert Piconi, chairman and CEO, Energy Vault. “As our first government collaboration, this publicly-owned project is well-aligned with our mission to accelerate the clean energy transition through sustainable and efficient energy storage solutions and will play a pivotal role in ensuring the availability of renewable energy.”
“We’re looking forward to working with Energy Vault on the delivery and integration of the battery storage system at the SEC Renewable Energy Park-Horsham,” said SEC CEO Chris Miller. “This project demonstrates SEC’s ongoing efforts to drive Victoria’s transition to renewables.”
The announcement marks a key advancement of Energy Vault’s growing commercial footprint in the Australian market, following a series of recent agreements, including with Enervest and ACEN Australia for BESS deployments. To date, Energy Vault’s B-VAULT portfolio consists of more than 2 GWh in total projects either deployed or currently in development.
